giant victory party here at national harbor after a battle that saw both sides sink a total of $100 million into this campaign over expanded gaming. to the yachts that are behind me, the supporters hope to build a $800 million destination resort and casino to the hill in front of me. >> i want to vote for barack obama. >> reporter: it is the presidential race that has driven the turnout even in maryland where president obama is all but certain to win. the but the outcome is far less than certain in the state for question 7, which would expand gaming in maryland. the latest polls suggest voters are divided right down the middle. >> i'm not certain when i get in there which way i'm going to go. >> you're going to decide in the ballot box. >> that's what i'm going to do. >> a new world class resort casino in prince george's county. >> reporter: supporters promise a new casino and table games

around the state will bring thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in additional tax revenue for schools. and that sounds great to michael graves who was voting in baltimore. >> i didn't think anybody was going to the schools but i thought it'd be more jobs and i need a job. >> you're unemployed. >> yes i am. >> and you're looking for work. >> for like the past five years. >> reporter: maryland's top financial cop says all the promises are pipe dreams. >> a lot of people say that they voted against it. that share saw the tv ads -- they saw the ads saying education wasn't going to benefit from gambling. >> reporter: prince george's county executive baker is encouraging voters to support question 7. it needs to win a majority statewide and in prince george's county where he hopes to see a sixth casino. >> people in prince george's county are gambling. the difference is, they take their money outside of the state. but their problems come back to prince george's county in a state of maryland.

and we don't have the resources to deal with it. >> reporter: now maryland elections officials say that they are looking into the kind of hanky-panky that you see almost every election day including an internet posting that suggested to democrats that turnout had been so strong that the president had extended voting for a day and the democrats could come back tomorrow and vote as well which is obviously not true. back to you. >> yeah, it doesn't work that way. thank you bruce. virginia considered one of the key battleground states in the presidential race but voters are also heading to the polls there to choose between two popular former governors. to represent the commonwealth in the u.s. senate. and we have seen plenty of lines as people are in the case. two statewide referendums and all their local races. our peggy fox started her day in prince william. she has live from richmond.

peggy? >> reporter: well, the mood here is very optimistic. we just had an update from the tim kaine campaign and they are saying that we could see voter turnout levels higher than the '08 levels. we don't know how that's going to go, however, they're saying that they are seeing an electorate that looks like that '08 level. we also know this has been the most expensive senate race in history. we'll see how that plays out. take a look at what one of the stations looked like today in prince william county. beautiful if you don't mind standing in line. >> because it's good everybody is coming out doing their duty. >> reporter: many voting stations like the springwoods precinct in woodbridge -- >> it's exciting. >> reporter: saw jammed parking lots and up to two hour waits. >> i think it's encouraging, i like to see everybodier anding their rights but -- everybody exercising their rights. that's what it's all ability. >> supporting people's right to do something like that and to actually see my son casting his first vote is kind of like my

efforts coming to fruition and letting him do this as well. >> i'm excited i want to vote. >> reporter: prince william county like raft used to be a republican advantage -- virginia used to be a republican stronghold but it's become more diverse and progressive. >> virginia very important in the election and we need to cast our volts -- votes and our voice heard. >> reporter: in 2004 george bush won prince william with 53% of the vote but in 2008 obama won prince william with 58% of the vote. and the state with 52% of the vote. it was the first time a democrat won the presidential race in virginia since 1964. >> i'm from massachusetts. and i'm not particularly pleased at the way that mitt romney ran massachusetts when he was the governor there. >> reporter: but some say that was an aberration. >> there were a lot of folks who maybe had some hope for something difficult last time around but haven't seen that change. >> reporter: now i had an opportunity to speak to tim kaine a short while ago and i asked him if president obama

wins re-election, i asked him if that means tim kaine wins if you win? but there are voters here that tim kaine's campaign says voters who will vote for romney and also vote for tim kaine. we'll have to see how all that plays out. we do know tim kaine has been very busy the past five days making 32 stops and 20 radio hits this morning. extremely busy getting out before the voters. we'll let you know how the most expensive senate race in virginia history turns out. back to you. >> we'll know some answers in a few hours. in the district, the majority of the races deal with the makeup of the city council, the board of educations and of course ethics issues. voters crowded into polling places around the city this morning. we visited three polling places. two of them in northeast and one downtown at the martin luther king jr. library. board of elections executive director clifford tatum says there was a few glitches. >> there was some lines at some

of the precincts before the doors opened this morning and we're having a good go. a couple of polling places where some of the workers didn't show up on time. or actually didn't show up at all and we've got a standby crew of co-workers that were settling out to the particular locations. >> among the questions in d.c., one that would allow the council to renovember members for -- remove members for poor conduct and another that would bar the convicted of felonies from holding seats on the council or becoming mayor. we have crews spread across the region tonight for campaign 2012. throughout the night, we'll be live from richmond for the big senate race. and then we're in baltimore, potomac, frederick, oxon hill, the hyattsville for all the maryland ballot issues and plus also in d.c. with more on the council races there. and the ethics issues that are on the ballot. and you can text -- and then we'll text you election results all night long. you can also keep track of the election at wusa9.com. and you can follow us on

twitter, we'll have information you won't get anywhere else. the handle is @wusa9. of course there are also plenty of races across the nation to of what closely -- to watch closely tonight. 13 congressional races are expected to decide control of capitol hill. among them, the massachusetts senate race between republican incumbent scott brown and former obama administration official elizabeth warren. missouri congressman todd akin was expected to upset democratic incumbent mccaskill in missouri. that is until he made some pretty controversial comments about abortion earlier in the campaign. we'll be watching both the races and several others for you throughout the evening. and coming your way on 9news now at 7:00, we'll have continued team coverage of this election, remember the virginia polls close at 7:00. plus an update on the george allen and tim kaine battle for the senate and the very latest election results as they come in. we'll see you at 7:00. >> see you then derek. >> still to come in this half hour of 9news now, what the wealthiest among us have to gain or lose this election day.

topper? >> well if you're running to the polls at the last-minute grab a jacket here. here are the numbers on the day. more like december than november. 48 and 34 goes in the books, the averages are still 64 and 34. record low 26. we will come back and talk about the nor'easter and that means to your wednesday commute. >> but first, dealing with the damage and heading to the polls. we'll check in with efforts in the wake of hurricane sandy.

local crews tapped to help in sandy's aftermath started coming back hem today. virginia's task force one based in chantilly arrived at their home base just before noon and maryland's equivalent came home hours later. they helped in new york and new jersey with recovery efforts. we're putting our money where you like it to help with sandy relief. just log on to facebook and like our wusa9 facebook page. we are donating $1 to the american red cross for every like our page gets. anita. you got to hand it to storm victims in new jersey and new york, many with no power for more than a week now but today they still came out to vote. in the rock away section of new york city they brought in generators to power up makeshift polling spots. voters have been streaming in all day long. folks in hard hit parts of new jersey have been told they can vote by e-mail or fax. still ahead, dualing campaigns -- dueling campaigns

and dualing planes, to the presidential candidates' election night headquarters coming up.

candidates bought time on television stations like ours for three times the number of

campaign ads that they did just forayers ago. forayers ago -- four years ago. you're tired of them and we are too. the ad for mitt romney that ran in the last break is the last one slated to run in any of the local television breaks today. we can't vouch for what's going to happen during cbs "evening news" from new york but take heart at knowing that at wusa9 the political ads are done. whoo. >> yeah and we actually have -- we have to sit through them. >> yes. >> we are -- just -- >> they're piped in our ears no escaping them. >> oh, yeah we are glad election day is here and glad everyone is doing their civic duty. >> i don't see any -- >> we have them. we just took them off. >> all of us need to you know shout it to the rooftops. >> i think it's -- i think it's a good example to set. and you're welcome i'm setting the good example tonight. >> thank you topper. >> doesn't mess up the suit. nothing does. only 48ed to. that is like december. as opposed to november.

the average high is still 62. a live look outside. it is our live michael & son weather camera and we have clouds coming in. down to 4. do you wants are coming up so that's a good sign that it's not going to be as cold tonight. winds out of the northeast now 13 and it will become breezy. so again if you're headed out, to do some last-minute voting grab a coat. it's chilly. all right, satellite picture radar combined. this is what we're concentrating on. the storm itself has now moved offshore. so it is a nor'easter now. it's pretty far south though and it's going to remain pretty far out to sea as it moves along the coast tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night. does not have a lot of precipitation with it and those bands will be pretty tightly confined around the center. so we're not looking for anything in terms of heavy rain. we are still looking though for some pretty big gusts on the delmarva. looks like a dry commute to work tomorrow. and then some rain tomorrow evening. especially east of town. 41 great falls, 41 in fairfax.

already 39 in gaithersburg. already 42 college park. not a direct hit. breezy and cold tonight and dry morning commute. some afternoon rain possible. maybe a little bit of wet snow mixed in especially late tomorrow afternoon and evening. higher impact at the shore where winds could be anywhere from 40 to 50 miles per hour. i think the highest winds here will be about 30 and that won't happen until thursday. northeast three days 9 weather alerts, cuello alerts, windy on thursday and 53. we finish the week strong. sunshine on friday and temperatures around 60. now the next seven days, we have not touched the weekend. we're looking at temperatures into the mid 60s on saturday. upper 60s sunday and monday. good news for the heart walk. good news for the latest' home game. and then -- ravens' home game. and then still mild next week. maybe some showers and rain next tuesday. if you're out in loudoun county by the way you may not see any rain from the system and if you're west of the divide it will be sunny tomorrow. west of 81 nothing. turning back to election day now.

the presidential candidates are getting ready to celebrate or concede. once tonight's returns start to come in. >> governor romney's camp is set up in massachusetts while president obama is in illinois. and our team coverage from their headquarters begins with danielle nottingham in chicago. and danielle, what's going on so far? >> reporter: well, lesli right now we're waiting for the president's supporters to start arriving here. a couple of thousand supporters. it will be quite different than what it was in 2008 when hundreds of thousands of people gathered in chicago's grant park for the president's victory celebration. but right now, they're just doing sound checks getting the stage ready. the president today he conducted interviews with tv and radio stations in battleground states and even played a game of basketball a tradition on election day. his team won and he was joined by former nba player scottie pippen and education secretary arne duncan. he was in good spirits and joking around during the game

and he's really confident lesli. >> but not -- not even in the least bit a little nervous in particular because his opponent kind of broke from tradition and went out and did some very visual campaigning today? >> reporter: and i think that's why the president took time out today to do those slight interviews with -- satellite interviews with the tv and video stations in crucial states, this will be a close night. the polls have been close all along. this is too close to call. the president is really trying to stress today is to get his supporters out to the polls. this will come down to voter turnout in the crucial swing states lesli. >> we will see what happens tonight. danielle, thank you so much. and our friends at "usa today" project that when campaign 2012 is all said and done, $6 billion, billion with a b. will have been spent on just the federal campaigns. four years ago an estimated 131 million people voted. if the same holds true this year that will work out to

about 45 campaign dollars per person. now that may sound like a lot and it had us wondering what else that money could have been spent on. but when we started to crunch the numbers it turned out it's barely even a drop in the bucket with government expenditures. for example, the federal food stamp program which has received so much attention in this election cycle accounts for just 2% of the federal budget and that adds up to $78 billion. anita. well, throughout this newscast we've been touching on some key issues lesli. at stake within this election. inolith focus on wealth and taxes. president obama has pledged to raise income tax rates on the richest group of americans to help cut the nation's debts. he also wants to raise the tax rate on capital gains from are 15% to 20% for the top earners and tax any inheritance above $3.5 million at a rate of 45%. mitt romney has promised to lower income tax rates for all

americans. he's also proposed eliminating the federal estate tax and forthose with incomes under $200,000 he would eliminate taxes on capital gains; dividends and interest. any of those plans would need approval from congress. susan mcginnis is with the romney campaign at its head quarters in boston. spew on the, a littlable -- sueson, a little bit about the move there. >> reporter: well, it's pretty upbeat so far. the -- the convention center here just opened up to guests and there are about 5,000 potential guests here and about 1200 of them are the media. among this people that you talk to here of course these are owl romney supporters and donors, very very upbeat that they do have this -- this infamous task to the electoral college that many say obama has the advantage in. but they do feel optimistic that governor romney can pull this off tonight although not everybody is very optimistic that we will hear a result tonight. a lot of people are betting on close to midday tomorrow to

learn the final results. obviously tonight we will get exit polls and probability. >> what about ohio? again those last-minute trips there. and the possibility of maybe an upset in pennsylvania, is there talk of that? >> reporter: yeah, there's a lot of talk about there are there's a lot of -- there's a lot of talk about ohio and the razor thin. really really neck and neck there. like the most important state. there's a lot of people saying that romney cannot win if he does not win ohio and certainly is republican has never pulled that off. the very very important for romney to win ohio although the campaign says there are other paths that can add up to the 270 electoral votes that are needed to win without ohio. but most of the people you talk to say he really needs that one. >> all right susan mcginnis, live from boston. thank you. already there are some concerning -- there are some concerns out there. here's some food for thought. virginia started counting its absentee ballots today. and the district will start counting them as soon as the

polls close. but in maryland, by law election officials cannot start counting those absentee ballots until thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. so if there are close races on some of the wait a minute issues we may not know the outcome -- ballot issues we may not know the outcome for a few days. >> oh but maybe we could know them before the end of the night. maybe that's wishful thinking. we're back in a moment with a look ahead to the rest of the night.

election day may be wrapping up for the voters, but that means the excitement is just beginning. >> the polls will close in virginia in about half an hour. in d.c. and maryland in an hour and a half. at 8:00 p.m. then we'll be with you all night long as the results start to come in. we're going to be doing cut-ins twice an hour here on wusa9 and if you want to get results acceptability right to the phone -- sent right to the phone, text -- then join us for an extended hour of 9news now starting at 11:00. >> our coverage continues with mike and andrea tomorrow starting at 4:25 a.m. >> all right topper the forecast? >> if you're going out tonight it's cold and grab a jacket especially in you're line at the time. and the nor'easter gives us a glancing blow tomorrow and we'll talk more about that tonight at 7:00. >> the cbs "evening news" is next. topper and derek will see you at 7:00 and as always wusa9.com

is always on. >> stay with us for election night 2012. >> good night. [ captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com ]